Taxonomic Value of Leaf Epidermal Characters of the Genera Rosa L. and Rubus L. (Rosaceae) in Iraq

Abstract

In this study, the leaf epidermal characters of thirteen taxa of the genera Rosa L. and Rubus L. belonging to the family Rosaceae, which grows naturally in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, was investigated via light microscopy. All taxa have the type of anomocytic stomata on the abaxial surface, and no stomata are present on the adaxial surface. Within the genus Rubus, among eighteen anatomical characters examined, only three characters are valuable at the species level, such as the anticlinal wall patterns on the adaxial and abaxial surfaces and the shape of the epidermal cells on the abaxial side. In Rosa, the shape of the epidermal cells on the abaxial surface varies from polygonal and polygonal-slightly irregular to irregular, and the variety R. canina var. deseglsei is recognized by the abaxial surface’s anticlinal wall pattern and the epidermal cells shape from other vanities of R. canina. Stomatal density as a range and stomata index could be valuable two diagnostic features for separating R. hemispharica from the remaining taxa of the genus Rosa. The taxa of Section: Pimpinellifoliae can be separate by the patterns of anticlinal walls of the abaxial surface from the remaining taxa of Sections: Caninae and Gallicanae within Subgenus: Rosa under study. According to our findings, some leaf epidermal characteristics and stomata are advantageous for distinguishing the various taxonomic ranks of the genera Rosa and Rubus family Rosaceae.